19 Dec KASHRUS QUESTIONS & ANSWERS WITH RABBI MOSHE ELEFANT

Kashrus and The
War- Has there been
any interesting
questions that have
come up from a
kashrus perspective
related to the war?
Although this
is not directly
related to
kashrus, it is
clear to see
that the world
has become
visibly more
dangerous for Jews. This does change how
we view certifying facilities in some areas
of the world. Although we give hashgachos
all over the world in 105 countries and there
are some places where mashgichim have in
the past felt comfortable visiting, this may
no longer be the case. Some mashgichim
may no longer feel comfortable visiting
some facilities or visiting certain countries
at this time.
What is our approach and attitude in

these situations? We firmly believe that
the safety of our mashgichim must always
come first. Therefore, we will, if necessary,
decertify any facility where a mashgiach
no longer feels comfortable visiting.
For the same reason, we will not certify
facilities in Pakistan or other countries
in the world where mashgichim report
to us that they feel uncomfortable based
on statements, comments, or posters that
they see in these facilities. If they’re not
comfortable being there and we cannot
ensure proper supervision, we will not
certify those facilities because “Chamira
Sakanta Ma’esura.“ The first and foremost
concern that we have is for the safety of
our people.
How are liquids transported in
bulk on a truck or on ships, such as
glycerin and cooking oil, supervised
for kashrus?
This is a huge area of kosher supervision
and we even have a picture in the office of a
truck with an OU on it. We certify trucking
companies in one of two ways. Either they
have trucks that are dedicated only for

kosher use which is depicted in the picture
in the office. We monitor this through
records to verify that only kosher products
are being used by these trucks. Or the food
that is being transported by the tanker is
not hot or it will not be stored in the truck
for more than 24 hours. This is similar to
a glass of water. A drink doesn’t become
non-kosher if it is cold liquid in a glass. If

I go to somebody’s house who eats non-
kosher food and he gives me something

to drink in a glass,
such as cold water,
I’m allowed to
drink it if it was
not in the glass
for 24 hours and it
is cold. However,
there are trucks
that do ship hot liquids or hold product for
more than 24 hours. For these transports,
companies who are unable or unwilling to
dedicate trucks to be used only for kosher,
we kosherize the truck when it’s going
from non-kosher use to kosher use.
This is not only a question with trucks, but

also is a question with boats. A lot of food
ingredients are transported from one side
of the world to the other, from the far east
to the United States. They put these huge
vessels on boats and keep the product
warm. We have two issues to look at: One
issue is that we obviously have to know
what was in that vessel prior to the kosher
ingredient. We also have to know what’s
on the other side of the wall of that vessel
and also if it has compartments. Halacha
is concerned about
Bliyos, about things
traveling through the
wall. If on one side
of the wall you have
kosher oil and on the
other side of the wall
you have non-kosher
oil and they’re being heated, you need to
be concerned about the Bliyah going from
one to the other. These are things that we
spend countless time and energy on that
the average consumer doesn’t recognize.
We think about, watch, and supervise the
food so it would not be a problem. It’s a
huge deal and it’s a worldwide deal.